Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Poof!"
The female cultivator spat out a mouthful of blood, her energy fading rapidly.
"Senior, what I said is the truth, there is absolutely no deceit..."
Before the female cultivator could finish her sentence, she could no longer support herself and collapsed to the ground, continuously coughing up blood mixed with unknown internal fragments.
Seeing that the female cultivator's life was in danger, Xiu Yun suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking Wu Ren's terrifying pressure.
"Wu Ren, enough! This is a disciple of my Profound Yin Sect. You do not have the right to decide her life or death."
Wu Ren roared angrily, "My grandson's storage bag is in her possession. My grandson's death is likely related to her. Hand her over to me; I must investigate my grandson's cause of death."
Xiu Yun shook his head, "She is a disciple of my Profound Yin Sect. You cannot have her."
The female cultivator's face, filled with pain and terror, briefly showed a hint of relief. At this critical moment, her sect would not allow her to be bullied by outsiders.
However, her relief was short-lived.
A mysterious object suddenly flew out of Wu Ren's hand, heading straight for Xiu Yun.
Xiu Yun caught the object, a fleeting look of joy crossing his eyes before he nonchalantly placed it into his storage ring.
Seeing that Xiu Yun accepted the item, Wu Ren knew that the other party was unwilling to let him handle the female cultivator. He cast a spell to bind her and then flew into the sky with her, vanishing in an instant.
The other ten disciples of the Profound Yin Sect looked at the female cultivator being taken away, their eyes filled with sorrow for their fallen comrade.
They had risked their lives in the secret realm, each with their own goals, but their significant gains were to benefit the sect.
Unexpectedly, the female cultivator did not die in the battles within the secret realm but was instead sold to an outsider by the sect's Golden Core ancestor, like a piece of merchandise.
This might be one of the costs of joining the demonic path, where there are no trustworthy allies, and low-level cultivators like them are seen merely as goods to be traded by the sect's elders.
As long as the price is right, they can be discarded like commodities at any time.
Song Wen looked at the place where Wu Ren and the female cultivator had disappeared, thinking about the abuse the female cultivator would face next. For a moment, his emotions were stirred but quickly returned to calm.
If you dare to pick up something that's left on the ground, you're just asking to be framed.
After Wu Ren left, Xiu Yun, Xiang Qi, and the Fairy Huan Yu looked somewhat suspicious.
None of the disciples from the three major sects had obtained the Heavenly Spirit Fruit or the Jade Essence Grass?
This was highly unusual!
With such suspicions, they questioned their sect's disciples, especially the eight who came out last, including Song Wen.
According to the earlier reports, there was a pseudo-second-grade bronze corpse guarding the exit. Logically, Song Wen and the others, who were weaker, should not have been able to break through the copper corpse's blockade.
Moreover, there should have been more than forty cultivators hiding near the exit of the secret realm. Why did only these eight emerge, and where were the others?
However, these eight knew nothing about this; they only knew that the copper corpse had mysteriously led them out, and they had escaped while the others did not.
Seeing that they could not find out anything significant, Xiu Yun, Xiang Qi, and the Fairy Huan Yu personally inspected their sect's disciples' storage bags. After confirming that they did not carry anything, they hastily concluded the secret realm exploration.
In the Withered Blood Secret Realm, there were three places where the Heavenly Spirit Fruit grew. These were all obtained by Gui Xun, Qiu Li, and Wu Sui. Ultimately, all three of their Heavenly Spirit Fruits were acquired by Song Wen.
As for the Jade Essence Grass in the Falling Hawk Gorge, there were three in total. One was eaten by the copper corpse, and the remaining two were destroyed by Gui Xun.
Naturally, the three major sects ultimately gained nothing.
In the evening of that day, Song Wen boarded a flying ship and returned to the main hall of the Corpse Demon Sect at the top of the mountain.
Outside the main hall of the sect, the square was crowded with disciples, just like the day of departure.
Among these people, some were there to greet their loved ones, while many others were there to confirm whether their enemies had perished in the secret realm.
Upon disembarking from the flying ship, Song Wen keenly noticed a familiar figure in the crowd.
Du Qiu!
As Song Wen had been with the Corpse Demon Sect longer, Du Qiu's surveillance had become increasingly close. Recently, Song Wen had noticed Du Qiu following him multiple times.
Ignoring Du Qiu, Song Wen headed straight down the mountain. He did not return to his cave dwelling but went directly to the market.
Du Qiu followed closely behind and entered the market with Song Wen.
Song Wen navigated through the market streets, making several turns before entering an inn.
Du Qiu, following behind Song Wen, frowned in contemplation.
"Ji Yin has just returned from the secret realm alive and hasn't gone back to his cave to recover. What is he doing in this black market?"
Unable to figure it out, Du Qiu waited outside the inn for a moment. Estimating that Song Wen had already entered the underground black market, he stepped into the inn, passed through the lobby, and arrived at the thatched hut at the black market entrance.
After passing the black market guards and checking his token, Du Qiu entered the underground black market and soon realized that he had lost track of Song Wen.
Du Qiu did not think much of it and assumed that Song Wen had used some kind of aura-concealing technique, making it hard to detect him, especially with the large number of people in the black market.
Du Qiu waited not far from the black market entrance for more than two quarters of an hour before finally seeing Song Wen's figure again.
Song Wen was wearing a black cloak that covered his entire figure, heading towards the exit. If it weren't for Du Qiu's familiarity with Song Wen's aura, he might not have recognized him.
As Song Wen exited the inn and glanced back at Du Qiu, a faint smile appeared on his lips.
He had deliberately released his aura to attract Du Qiu's attention.
He had come to the black market to purchase a set of formation arrays, specifically a second-grade formation array priced at ten thousand spirit stones.
The formation was called the "Aura Concealment Formation," and its sole function was to isolate the aura and prevent spiritual power leakage.
This formation could neither be used in combat nor assist in cultivation, making it quite useless to most cultivators.
According to the formation master selling it, this formation was very effective at hiding one's aura and could even deceive the detection of Golden Core cultivators.
Before entering the Withered Blood Secret Realm, Song Wen had made arrangements through the black market to connect with the formation master and negotiate the price. At that time, he was financially strained and could not provide enough spirit stones, so he scheduled the purchase for after the exploration of the secret realm.
He had obtained over fifty storage bags in the secret realm, with more than fifteen thousand spirit stones alone. Purchasing the formation was naturally within his means.
As Song Wen left the market, the sky had already darkened.
He did not return to his cave dwelling but left the sect, heading northwest.
Watching Song Wen's figure gradually disappear into the darkness, Du Qiu's gaze flickered, as if he was hesitating whether to continue the pursuit.
(End of the Chapter)
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